XMPie, a Xerox Company

THE FIFTH annual PIA/GATF Variable Data and Personalization Conference, held November 12-14 in Phoenix, will feature more than two days of sessions to help companies advance their capabilities. This special supplement has been designed to highlight some of the key conference topics and speakers. Attendees will hear case studies from the Canadian Conservative Party and Move.com that provide a behind-the-scenes look at effective uses of VDP. Three separate tracks, a total of 21 sessions, are being offered. Management sessions will include: Building an Efficient Cost/Financial Model; Liability/Security Issues; Managing a Multimedia Company; Transitioning from Transactional to Marketing; as well as Profiting from Digital

IT USED to be that, when a printer had a “Web-facing customer interface,” it was primarily offering file upload and transfer. Maybe online estimating, ordering and job tracking. Perhaps some digital asset management but, beyond the basic interface, there was little going on behind the scenes. Affordable, off-the-shelf tools were simply too limited. The flexible, robust solutions—not to mention customer-specific solutions—necessary for developing the kinds of Web-to-print applications we know today were reserved for larger print shops that could afford custom builds. Over the past several years, however, the playing field has changed dramatically. Software providers have developed Web-to-print solutions offering a wide

SEWICKLEY, PA—The Printing Industries of America/Graphic Arts Technical Foundation has selected 11 technologies to receive 2006 PIA/GATF InterTech Technology awards. The winners will receive the Lucite InterTech stars during the competition’s annual luncheon at the fall administrative meetings, held November 9-12 in Milwaukee. The 2006 InterTech recipients, in alphabetical order with the technology listed first, include: Adobe PDF print engine, Adobe Systems; Microsystems Microcip software module, C&P Microsystems; Dalim Mistral, Dalim Software; WebCenter, Esko-Graphics; Magnum ink formulation dispenser, GFI Innovations; Zero-slip nip enhancement, Goss International Americas; KBA Genius 52 UV sheetfed offset press, KBA North America; InlineFoiler, MAN Roland; DeskDirect, PrintSoft; Liberty sheetfed inks, Sun Chemical;

SEWICKLEY, PA—The Printing Industries of America/Graphic Arts Technical Foundation has selected 11 technologies to receive 2006 PIA/GATF InterTech Technology awards. The winners, selected from among 35 nominations, addressed issues such as touchless workflows, package printing and Web-to-print technologies. The winners will receive the Lucite InterTech stars during the competition’s annual luncheon at the fall administrative meetings, held November 9-12 in Milwaukee. The 2006 InterTech recipients, in alphabetical order with the technology listed first, include: Adobe PDF print engine, Adobe Systems; Microsystems Microcip software module, C&P Microsystems; Dalim Mistral, Dalim Software; WebCenter, Esko-Graphics; Magnum Ink formulation dispenser, GFI Innovations; Zero-slip nip enhancement, Goss International Americas; KBA Genius

Tackling a sizzling-hot topic in the printing industry, the 2005 PIA/GATF Variable Data and Personalization Conference scheduled for November 6-8 at the Sheraton Crescent Hotel in Phoenix is designed to offer attendees the critical information needed for personalized digital printing success. In the following special section you will find articles pertaining to the main topic of this upcoming PIA/GATF event. Included are a look at several digital printers who have successfully implemented variable data printing (VDP); how a leading direct marketing agency relies on VDP to boost response rates; compensation plans for digital salespeople; results from a recent study concerning postal damage to digitally printed

BY MARK SMITH Technology Editor Carrying the name "Toppan" is a lot for a company to live up to in the printing industry. . .and beyond, for that matter. From its headquarters in Tokyo, the company has expanded to reportedly become one of the top two printers (commercial and publications) globally. It also has branched out into the security and cards, packaging, industrial materials, electronics and e-business solutions markets, raising its current total employment to more than 33,000 people. Along with its commercial operations, Toppan Printing has built its own Technical Research Institute and says it invested about $120 million in research and

Innovate '05 Takes Digital Printing on the Road ROCHESTER, NY—Innovate '05 has begun its 14-city sweep across North America, offering attendees a day-long, free seminar on digital printing. Xerox Corp. is working with more than 25 industry partners to put on the tour. The program is designed to "help print providers and professionals in the marketing, creative and design services fields use digital printing technology to increase productivity, reduce costs, improve work processes and provide more services." Each tour stop will feature a keynote address delivered by Howie Fenton, senior consultant of digital technology, National Association for Printing Leadership (NAPL); Bob Tapella, chief of

BY MARK SMITH Technology Editor Scientists have challenged its veracity, but the "boiling frog" legend endures. Here's a short version: Drop a frog into a pot of boiling water and it will immediately jump up. Place a frog into a pot of temperate water, then slowly turn up the heat, and it will stay in the pot until it is overcome. Admittedly, the dire consequences of this cautionary tale are overblown when it's applied to the current status of digital printing. Nonetheless, it does give one a visceral sense for how the slow pace of a change can mask its magnitude over time

Pittsburgh, PA--July 23, 2004--PIA/ GATF is pleased to announce 13 recipients of the 2004 GATF InterTech Technology Awards. A panel of independent judges chose this year's recipients from a roster of 33 submissions. Once again, GATF 's InterTech Technology Award recipients reflect a unique cross-section of industry innovations, from consumables like blankets, paper and plates to a classification system for folding and software that enhances the design process while reducing file size. "The 2004 awards show that even small companies can develop a highly innovative technology deserving of an InterTech Award," says PIA/GATF Research Director John Lind. Although the digitization of

I saw the future in a play and it wasn't on Broadway. Actually it was four short plays in the Xerox booth at the recent Direct Marketing Association event in Orlando. The plays, complete with professional actors, dramatically delivered an insight into how one-to-one marketing can work from the customer to the printer. The impresario behind the plays was my old friend Larry Zusman, manager of VI Solutions Marketing at Xerox. Larry, together with Bob Wagner, Xerox's vice president of creative services, gave the audience a very clever and entertaining way of demonstrating one-to-one solutions. Applause and rave reviews aside, I thought that these plays